The New York Times:
Senate Soundly Rejects Repeal-Only Health Plan
The rejection of “clean repeal” laid bare the deep divisions within the Republican caucus about how best to proceed. The night before, nine Republicans, including both conservatives and moderates, voted against comprehensive legislation to repeal the health law and provide a replacement. Without the votes to replace the health law or to simply repeal major parts of it, Senate Republicans appeared increasingly likely to try to pass a modest measure that would repeal only a few provisions of the law, such as the tax on medical devices and the requirements that most individuals have insurance and that large employers offer coverage to workers. (Kaplan, 7/26)

The Associated Press:
GOP Eyes Narrow Bill To Advance Goal On 'Obamacare' Repeal
They couldn't pass a repeal of "Obamacare," or find the votes for a White House-backed replacement. So now Senate Republicans are lowering their sights and trying to unite behind a so-called "skinny repeal" that would merely undo just a few of the most unpopular elements of Barack Obama's law. The "skinny bill" is an admittedly lowest-common-denominator approach, and it may not even have the votes to pass, either. But as Republicans search for how to keep their years-long effort to repeal and replace "Obamacare" alive, they're coming to believe that the "skinny bill" may be the only option left. (Werner, 7/27)

Politico:
'Skinny' Obamacare Repeal Still Lacks Votes To Pass
Even a bare-bones repeal of Obamacare is no sure thing in the Senate. A handful of key Republican senators who had spurned earlier overtures from GOP leadership endorsed the latest plan to gut Obamacare’s individual and employer coverage mandates and its medical device tax. But several centrists said they’re undecided on the so-called skinny repeal, leaving the GOP in limbo through at least the end of the week. (Everett, Haberkorn and Kim, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
GOP Momentum Grows For More Modest Plan To Overhaul Obamacare
Top Republicans such as Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the chamber’s third-ranking Republican, said that although leaders have not yet found “the sweet spot” between conservatives and centrists, they had picked up support for a more modest plan because it did not include deep cuts to Medicaid. Some Republican senators were simply open to any legislation that could keep alive the roller-coaster push for an overhaul. (Eilperin, Snell and Sullivan, 7/26)

Los Angeles Times:
Running Out Of Options To Overhaul Obamacare, Senate Republicans Ponder A 'Skinny' Repeal
"I’ve got to think about moving things along to get to conference to hopefully get a good product," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who viewed the skinny alternative as a step toward something more comprehensive. On Wednesday, GOP senators spent another frustrating and fruitless day debating and rejecting possible approaches. After voting down their leaders' most comprehensive overhaul plan a day earlier, Republicans rejected another long-standing GOP idea on Wednesday: to simply repeal most of Obamacare. (Mascaro, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
The Senate’s Possible ‘Skinny Repeal’ Of Obamacare Faces Skepticism In The House
Some in the Senate have suggested that the downsized bill would represent a bridge to a conference committee, where the two chambers would meet to resolve their differences. But House Republicans who fought tooth and nail over the course of months earlier this year to expand the scope of the repeal legislation are saying “fat chance” to the skinny repeal — including key members on the conservative and moderate ends of the GOP — and say it is difficult to see what legislative product could span the divide between the chambers. (DeBonis, 7/26)

Politico:
House GOP Wary Of ‘Skinny’ Repeal
House Republicans say they understand the complicated intraparty dynamics of the Senate, where several moderate GOP senators don’t want to repeal Obamacare without replacing it. Yet they privately worry that a number of vulnerable House Republicans have already taken tough votes — cutting $800 billion from Medicaid, for instance — that their Senate GOP colleagues refuse to support, exposing those House members to serious political jeopardy in November 2018. (Bresnahan and Haberkorn, 7/26)

The Wall Street Journal:
Insurers Warn About Lack Of Coverage Mandate In Senate’s ‘Skinny Repeal’ Option
Health insurers came out strongly against the idea of any bare-bones health-care bill that would repeal the ACA’s coverage mandate without other measures aimed at stabilizing the law’s insurance exchanges. “If there is no longer a requirement for everyone to purchase coverage, it is critical that any legislation include strong incentives for people to obtain health insurance and keep it year-round,” the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said in a statement. “A system that allows people to purchase coverage only when they need it drives up costs for everyone.” (Armour, Wilde Mathews and Hackman, 7/26)

Politico:
'Skinny' Repeal Could Have Big Ramifications For Obamacare Markets
Senate Republicans are hoping a “skinny” repeal bill can solve their stalemate over dismantling Obamacare. But this partial Obamacare repeal — which is gaining steam in the Senate — could destabilize already wobbly Obamacare insurance markets, make premiums jump and increase the number of uninsured by millions, health policy experts say. “I call it the 20-percent-increase-in-premiums-and-at least-15-million-out-of-insurance plan,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said. “It’s a terrible idea.” (Demko, 7/26)

Los Angeles Times:
Obamacare 101: Would A 'Skinny Repeal' Trigger A Death Spiral?
Few experts believe that the employer mandate has had much effect, largely because the vast majority of large employers already provide health benefits. In fact, when the Obama administration delayed implementation of the mandate, there was little evidence that employers started dropping coverage. Repealing the so-called individual mandate is potentially more problematic. Independent analyses by the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, and others suggest that without some kind of penalty, many healthy Americans would not get insurance until they were sick. That would push up health insurance costs, causing what people in the business call a death spiral. (Levey, 7/26)

The New York Times:
Lisa Murkowski, A Swing Vote On Health Care, Isn’t Swayed
Lisa Murkowski had heard enough. As President Trump pressed her and her fellow Senate Republicans last week to fall in line behind a repeal of the Affordable Care Act in the interest of party loyalty and protecting the Republican brand, she felt compelled to speak up. “With all due respect, Mr. President,” she said, according to some of the people at the private White House lunch, “I didn’t come here to represent the Republican Party. I am representing my constituents and the state of Alaska.” (Hulse, 7/26)

The New York Times:
Republican Gamble On Fast-Track Rules For Health Care Hits Wall
With the economy stagnating and Congress bridling at President Richard Nixon’s heavy-handed spending controls, lawmakers in 1974 created a fast-track procedure to help make the tough decisions on rising budget deficits and swelling entitlement spending. Since then, that process — called reconciliation — has been warped for many purposes, including large tax cuts, but never has it been used for the kind of complex policy making that Republicans are trying to do now with health care. And it is showing. (Pear, 7/26)

Politico:
Dems To GOP: No Amendments Until You Show Us Your Bill
Senate Democrats are taking their ball and going home in the looming health care vote-a-rama — until Republicans finally cough up their actual Obamacare repeal plan. Fed up with the GOP’s constant vacillations over how to dismantle Obamacare, Democrats say they will hold back on offering any more amendments in the health care floor fight until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shows what plan the GOP will ultimately coalesce around. (Kim, 7/26)

USA Today:
Democrats Seize On John McCain’s Message In Health Care Fight
Democrats are seizing on GOP Sen. John McCain’s call for a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to health care reform, with committee hearings and input from both parties if the GOP bill fails. The Arizona Republican’s message — delivered Tuesday during his dramatic return to the Senate after revealing he has brain cancer — bolstered Democrats’ long-running complaints about being cut out of the process. (Guadiano, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
Sanders Won’t Vote For Republican ‘Single-Payer’ Amendment
A spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday night that he and other members of the Democratic caucus would reject an amendment to the Republican health-care bill designed to smoke out support for single-payer health care. The amendment proposed by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), said a Sanders spokesman, was a “sham” that could be ignored. (Weigel, 7/26)

The New York Times:
Former Obama Aides Lead Opposition To Health Care Repeal
Several former Obama administration officials were on their regular Wednesday morning conference call this week, plotting against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, when Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services, said on CNBC that his party should shoot for “the lowest common denominator” on health care. (Shear and Pear, 7/27)

The Wall Street Journal:
Anthem Seeks Clarity From Health Law Debate
Anthem Inc. said that if it doesn’t quickly get more certainty about the future of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, it will likely further pull back its planned participation for next year, a threat that adds to the pressure on Senate Republicans as they struggle to pass health-care legislation. (Wilde Mathews, 7/26)

NPR:
'Sky-High' Pay For CEOs Of Health Care Firms Raises Questions
In the seven years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, CEOs of U.S. health care companies have made a lot of money. Their compensation far outstrips the wage growth of nearly all Americans, according to reporter Bob Herman, who published an analysis this week of "the sky-high pay of health care CEOs" for the online news site, Axios. (Siegel and Columbus, 7/26)

The New York Times:
Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed In The Military
President Trump abruptly announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military on Wednesday, blindsiding his defense secretary and Republican congressional leaders with a snap decision that reversed a year-old policy reviled by social conservatives. Mr. Trump made the declaration on Twitter, saying that American forces could not afford the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of transgender service members. He said he had consulted generals and military experts, but Jim Mattis, the defense secretary, was given only a day’s notice about the decision. (Davis and Cooper, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
Trump Announces That He Will Ban Transgender People From Serving In The Military
Trump’s decision comes two weeks after the House rejected an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would have blocked the Pentagon from offering gender transition therapies to active-duty service members. Twenty-four Republicans joined 190 Democrats voting to reject the measure. But conservative lawmakers — many of them members of the House Freedom Caucus — had threatened to withhold support for a spending bill if Congress did not act to prohibit the Pentagon from paying for the procedures. The impasse broadly threatened government spending, but most importantly for Trump, it potentially held up money that had been appropriated for the border wall between the United States and Mexico, a key promise he had made during the campaign. (Phillip, Gibbons-Neff and DeBonis, 7/26)

Politico:
Inside Trump’s Snap Decision To Ban Transgender Troops
After a week sparring with his attorney general and steaming over the Russia investigation consuming his agenda, President Donald Trump was closing in on an important win. House Republicans were planning to pass a spending bill stacked with his campaign promises, including money to build his border wall with Mexico. But an internal House Republican fight over transgender troops was threatening to blow up the bill. (Bade and Dawsey, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
Hill Democrats Slam Trump’s Military Transgender Ban, While GOP Is Caught By Surprise
Lawmakers in both parties slammed President Trump’s decision on Wednesday to bar transgender Americans from serving in the military, while many of his allies on Capitol Hill remained largely perplexed or silent. The president’s decision, announced in a series of tweets, is yet another move that confused and divided elements of his party at a time when it is already roiled by disagreements over the future of a proposed health-care overhaul and of embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has faced a barrage of criticism from Trump in recent days. (DeBonis and O'Keefe, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
GOP Reps. Comstock, Taylor Votes On Transgender Issue Reflect Political Landscape Under Trump
President Trump’s decision to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military highlights recent votes on a related issue by two Republican members of Congress from Virginia whose districts are being targeted by Democrats in 2018. They took opposite stances on a measure that would have blocked an Obama-era practice requiring the Pentagon to pay for gender transition surgeries and hormone therapy. The “Hartzler amendment” — named after Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), who proposed adding it to the annual defense policy bill — failed by a vote of 214 to 209. (Portnoy, 7/26)

The New York Times:
For Transgender Service Members, A Mix Of Sadness, Anger And Fear
Joining the Navy was one of the best decisions Alec Kerry said she had ever made. The other was coming out as transgender. “The Navy taught me how people can come together and work hard to achieve something bigger than themselves,” said Petty Officer Kerry, 24, who is training to operate nuclear reactors and soon plans to adopt the name Eva. “Strangely enough, I think what the Navy taught us about integrity was what gave me the courage to come out. I had to be honest about who I was with myself and the people I served with.” (Philipps, 7/26)

The Washington Post:
These Experimental Treatments Target Brain Cancer Like John McCain’s
When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) returned to work Tuesday, he seemed his tough old self, saying it would be hard to call the Senate the “world's greatest deliberative body” with a straight face. He added he was headed home soon for treatment for the aggressive brain cancer recently discovered during surgery. McCain hasn't announced his medical care plans, but for most patients, the first-line treatment for glioblastoma is radiation and chemotherapy. But if the cancer recurs, as it usually does, what then? (McGinley, 7/26)

The Wall Street Journal:
AstraZeneca Faces Major Setback Over Cancer Drugs
AstraZeneca said a combination of two of its new oncology drugs failed to shrink lung cancer tumors in a closely watched clinical trial, casting doubt on a central part of the company’s ambitious growth plans. The trial, dubbed Mystic, centered on the combination of two immuno-oncology drugs, which are designed to boost the immune system’s ability to eradicate cancer cells. AstraZeneca said the combination was no better than standard chemotherapy at shrinking tumors in advanced lung cancer. (Roland, 7/27)

The Wall Street Journal:
Glaxo Slashes R&D Projects To Focus On Top Prospects
GlaxoSmithKline axed more than 30 drug-research projects to focus on four key disease areas, in a push by new Chief Executive Emma Walmsley to sharpen the company’s research-and-development operations. U.K.-based Glaxo said Wednesday it would now focus its research on respiratory diseases, HIV and other infectious diseases, cancer and immuno-inflammatory conditions. (Roland, 7/26)

Los Angeles Times:
USC President Admits University 'Could Have Done Better' In Handling Reports Of Medical School Dean's Drug Use
USC President C.L. Max Nikias acknowledged Wednesday that the university “could have done better” in its handling of a former medical school dean who a Times investigation found took drugs and associated with criminals and drug abusers. Nikias didn’t detail how the university could have done more but said USC currently has “only loosely defined procedures and guidelines for dealing with employee behavior outside the workplace.” He announced a new committee that would look at strengthening those procedures. (Hamilton, Pringle and Parvini, 7/26)

NPR:
Health Care Facilities Lag In Fending Off Hacking Attacks
In the neonatal intensive care unit of Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, a father is rocking a baby attached to a heart monitor. While doctors roam the halls trying to prevent infections, Chief Information Officer Theresa Meadows is worried about another kind of virus. "The last thing anybody wants to happen in their organization is have all their heart monitors disabled or all of their IV pumps that provide medication to a patient disabled," Meadows says. (Silverman, 7/26)

USA Today:
Contaminants In Water Are Legal But Still Pose Big Health Risks, Environmental Group Says
Contaminants detected in water samples throughout the country pose health risks but are perfectly legal under the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to data released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group. “Most people turn on their tap water and think: It’s clear, I live in America, we have these laws, I’m being protected,” said Nneka Leiba, director of the Healthy Living Science Program for the Environmental Working Group (EWG). “What people don’t realize is that there have been no additions to the list of regulated chemicals for drinking water since 1996.” (Toy, 7/26)

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